The portraiture of Queen Elizabeth I (1533–1603) spans the evolution of English royal portraits in the early modern period (1400/1500-1800), from the earliest representations of … See more

The young queen
Portraits of the young queen, many of them likely painted to be shown to prospective suitors … See more

Return of the Golden Age
The excommunication of Elizabeth by Pope Pius V in 1570 led to increased tension with Philip II … See more

The many portraits of Elizabeth I constitute a tradition of image highly steeped in classical mythology and the Renaissance understanding of English history and destiny, filtered by allusions to Petrarch's sonnets and, late in her reign, to Edmund Spenser See more

Portraiture in Tudor England
Two portraiture traditions had arisen in the Tudor court since the days of Elizabeth's father, Henry VIII. The portrait miniature developed from the illuminated manuscript tradition. These small personal images were almost … See more

Prior to the wide dissemination of prints of the queen in the 1590s, the common people of Elizabeth's England would be most familiar with her … See more

Queen and court
• Unknown artist, The Family of Henry VIII, with Elizabeth on the right, c. 1545
• Elizabeth and the Ambassadors, attributed to Levina … See more